The Bass Geek

The new IMN podcast is up – download it or listen at the site or on WFYI HD2, Thursdays at 4pm.

The laptop may not be making as many appearances onstage as it used to with the Psychonauts, but I’m intrigued by this Mobius looping software. Super easy to install and set up, and it’s free to boot. Between it and the new patches Peff provided for Reason+Record, I’ve got a ton of options for live performances from the bass and the laptop. Now I just have to find a place to work it in.

The new IMN Podcast is up – download it or listen at the site or on WFYI HD2, Thursdays at 4pm.

Also, please take a moment to head over to Girls Rock Indy and see what you can do to support their cause. Their first benefit show takes place March 5th at Talbott St., and they’re looking for some materials to put on the first Girls Rock Indy camp in July. They’re getting more bassists out there, and that can only be a good thing.

The new IMN podcast is up and running – download it or listen at the site or on WFYI HD2, Thursdays at 4pm.

Also, check out, if you will, the poster for March 13th’s Shakti World Music Festival at the Vollrath Tavern. Between Mumbai Taxi, Kwanzaa Pops and the Indiana Reggae Band, and the Playboy Psychonauts, I think we have quite a few continents and islands covered. Or, at least, a brief shore leave or layover. In any case, that’s the name and we’re going with it. We’re really looking forward the show (and the fascinating conversations we inevitably have with the Vollrath’s neighbors when the sitar comes out), so hopefully  you’ll be able to make it.

And, if course, if you can’t make it, there’s always Robot Unicorn Attack. Seriously, I can’t get enough of this game, and it makes me want to buy a copy of Erasure’s greatest hits. And I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that.

It’s a little late to listen to the new IMN podcast on WFYI HD2 (normally airing Thursdays at 4pm), but you can still download it or listen at the site.

Before traveling off to New Orleans this past week (where I took in amazing music from The Tin Men, the Hot 8 Brass Band, and the New Orleans Klezmer All-Stars, among others), I was trying to put together a new practice regimen based on some topics taken from this excellent article on No Treble. So I printed out some sheet music, wrote out headings for practice time and schedules . . . and promptly left the notebook in New Orleans. So first – if there’s anybody down there who finds it, go ahead and send it back, please. The address in the front cover. Second, I’ll have a revised version ready soon and post on some progress from there. Practice habits need to be maintained, and I’ve been a bit slack in that department, I’m afraid.

The new IMN podcast is up – download it or listen at the site or on WFYI HD2 Thursdays at 4pm.

Despite the title, the podcast and the Red Lion Grog House aren’t necessarily connected. I suppose you could listen to the podcast in said Fountain Square restaurant, but you’d be missing out on the conversation and other things happening there. Save the iPod for later. The place itself was extremely well set up, and the food was excellent. Yes, the fish n’ chips, bangers and mash, and all the typical fare was there. And it was tasty and delightful. So have at it – it’s finally open for business.

The new IMN podcast is up – download it or listen at the site or on WFYI HD2 Thursdays at 4pm.

The Playboy Psychonauts play up in Lafayette Saturday, barring delay or Snowpocalypse™©®, and thus you have a chance to hear a real sitar in action. However, a friend of mine shared this article on the iPhone pocket sitar with me, so you’ve got that to fall back on when the snow drifts engulf your house. It’s definitely not the same experience, but at least you don’t have to tune the thing.

The new IMN podcast is up – download it or listen at the site or on WFYI HD2, Thursdays at 4pm.

The local edition of Metromix provided a guided tour through a night in Fountain Square this week, and it hits some good spots that I highly recommend. However, please don’t forget that Arthur’s Music and the comic book store aren’t open at night, so you might want to drop by a little earlier to drop the little ones off for some music lessons and pick up some prime reading material. Or get some lunch, too. Really, it’s not that I don’t want Fountain Square to blossom as a late-night destination of choice – when you sport Peppy’s Grill, it’s your destiny to host those who do, indeed, go on and on ’til the break of dawn. And I love love LOVE being able to walk to music gigs down here. It’s just okay if we see you in the morning, too.

And speaking of that, a lovely neighbor of mine pointed me towards these artist’s renderings of what’s on tap for the Fountain Square area itself – gawd, that’s gorgeous. I can see this becoming a destination for adventurous buskers, and good for them. The only representation so far has been the saxophonist moonlighting as a human sign for the tax place down the road. He sounded good, but the Lady Liberty costume kept getting in the way. Come on back and play for real, sir.

The new IMN podcast is up – download it or listen at the site or on WFYI HD2 Thursdays at 4pm.

My Jazz bass is currently undergoing some surgery – nothing major or life-threatening, just a little elective cosmetic enhancement. Said procedure merely involves a couple split-coil Nordstrand pickups, which I’m hoping lets me use some different volume level combinations without getting the 60-cycle hum common to the stock pickups. The bass comes back in a few days, so I’ll have more reactions and maybe some sound samples then.